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Emancipation
|image= |airdate=November 14, 2001 |previous=Houseboat |next=Book Club }} is the second of the third season of Malcolm in the Middle, which was broadcast on November 14, 2001. Summary Francis comes home a final time before heading out to join Eric in Alaska, but Lois has absolutely no intention of speaking to him since he quit school. Meanwhile, Malcolm's new teacher (Chris Eigeman), a former Krelboyne student, sets up a new ranking system, causing the students to suffer a breakdown and increased paranoia, turning them against each other, until Malcolm develops up a scheme. Plot Francis is seen packing his stuff in his former dorm room that he shared with Eric when Spangler appears. He mentions that as of 1400 hours he is emancipated and is no longer attending this school. Francis asks Spangler if he wants to see the documents again. Spangler mentions that he doesn't need to see them. He reveals that he was about to quit his job from boredom, but Francis gave him a purpose in life in trying to discipline him. He affectionately presents a ceremonial sword in recognition to Francis, who then accidentally cuts off his right hand. At the house, Lois rails on Reese for a minor dirty sock infraction before the boys head off to school. At the middle school, Malcolm reminds Reese to be at North High. He is introduced to the Krelboynes' new bully, Gus, by Dabney. Reese tells him about his trade as a bully and mentions if he locks his wrists correctly, Gus can gain better leverage over them. He takes Reese's advice and locks his wrists for better leverage. Francis comes home a final time before heading out to join Eric in Alaska. After the lady drops him off at home, she asks him how he will explain to his family. Francis would never get the opportunity to do so as an enraged Hal comes out of the house to chase after him and up a tree(despite Hal's fears of heights). After calming down, he talks to Francis and mentions he could've talked to them about attending alternate schools to graduate before going to Alaska. However when Lois sees him again, she wants nothing to do with him and gives him a silent treatment. This leads to a serious fight between her and Hal. Malcolm's new teacher, Mr. Herkabe, sets up a ranking system to pressure the Krelboynes to achieve. They turn against each other, while Malcolm tries to break his ranking system. Meanwhile at home, Lois has become much meaner to Malcolm, Reese and Dewey despite them doing nothing wrong in this episode. At night, after they let Francis in, the boys are angered to see him again. Reese punches him in the stomach and berates him for the emancipation and divorcing the family. Francis fought back by poking his eyes and tried to explain why he left Marlin. While angered, Malcolm wisely explains to him that Lois is taking her anger out on them because of him. Francis soon realizes the consequences of his actions and his own brothers are being blamed by her because he left Marlin Academy against her wishes. Malcolm mentions that the trip to Alaska would take him, over 5000 miles and even though they may have done some terrible things to her, they wouldn't have gone as far as emancipating themselves away from home. Francis apologizes to the boys who are suffering from Lois' anger and tells them that this is his only chance to prove himself to her. By going to Alaska to work as a logger, he could make a lot of money to set himself and his family for life. That way, they wouldn't have to worry about financial issues anymore. Malcolm tells Francis to try explaining it to Lois. He explains that he's trying to, but she's giving him the silent treatment. Francis asks if he can get a pillow for the night. Malcolm reluctantly tosses one at the floor. The next day at the parking lot in front of Lucky Aide, Francis has trashed Lois' car and punctured the tires. She continues giving him the silent treatment and ignores him by driving away with the tires flat. At school, Malcolm successfully finds a way to break Herkabe's ranking system, by having the Krelboynes recite prime numbers. This drives the group insane and causing them to undergo a mental breakdown. Herkabe is so embarrassed in front of the school principal that he stopped his standings and pleasing Malcolm. At the house, Francis packs the his bags and puts it in the back of the cab. He says his farewell to his brothers and promises to write to them once he arrives in Alaska. In the kitchen, Hal tries to convince Lois to talk to Francis before he leaves for Alaska. She refuses and continues to the silent treatment by ironing clothes. Hal tells Lois off that it exactly the kind of behavior that will drive the family apart. He mentions that if she doesn't talk to Francis now, she will lose not only him, but also the boys too. Lois continues her refusal and goes back to ironing cloths. Realizing that she is lost to him, Hal tells her off that he just lost his eldest son because of her. In turn, he gained a childish wife as a new baby for him to deal with. Hal is bidding Francis farewell when Lois appears in front of him wanting to talk now. The two immediately get into a serious argument over everything. Francis blames her for ignoring him throughout his visit home. Lois yells at him that he deserved it because she is angered over how he left school against her wishes because she has big plans for him. Francis defends himself pointing out that he was very unhappy at Marlin Academy for years. All she could've done was let him leave the school and go to Alaska to work as a logger. Lois points out that he's been very troublesome since he was born and was always ungrateful for the sacrifices she's made for him. Hal ushers the boys inside the house as the argument wages on between Francis and Lois. Cast *Jane Kaczmerek as Lois *Bryan Cranston as Hal *Christopher Kennedy Masterson as Francis *Justin Berfield as Reese *Erik Per Sullivan as Dewey *Frankie Muniz as Malcolm Guest Stars Recurring *Daniel von Bargen as Commandant Spangler *Chris Eigeman as Mr. Herkabe *Craig Lamar Traylor as Stevie *Evan Matthew Cohen as Lloyd *Kyle Sullivan as Dabney Cameos *Mary Pat Gleason as Woman *Victor Z Isaac as Kevin *Bryan Burke as Gus *Kristin Quick as Flora Mayesh (uncredited) Trivia *This episode directly continues the events of the episode Houseboat, but only for Francis' story arc. *Francis cuts off Commandant Spangler's other hand, giving him two hook hands. *Following the disappearance of Caroline Miller, former Krelboyne Lionel Herkabe becomes their new teacher, making his first appearance in the series. Also, Kevin replaces the role of Eraserhead as one of the Krelboynes in Malcolm's friend circle. *List of Krelboyne rankings at the start of the competition: **Malcolm 99.999823 **Stevie 99.999549 **Katherine 99.999432 **Lloyd 99.998963 **Dabney 99.998401 **Della 99.998126 **Kevin 98.999981 **Maggie 98.999962 **Tyler 98.999942 **Henrietta 98.999942 **Alysoun 98.999910 **Ngan 98.999910 **Milo 98.999822 **Nathaniel 98.999821 **(Although Flora Mayesh is in the class, her name does not appear in the rankings.It may be possible that she and Mr. Herkabe have an intimate relationship that prevents him from subjecting her to the ranking list humiliation.) *On the original airing of this episode, Lois says to Francis, "you've been nothing but a problem since the day you were born." This was removed from all future broadcasts. However, that exact same line was used word for word in the episode "Hal's Birthday." Errors *Mr. Herkabe refers to Malcolm as number 1 to the 11th when he is at the top of the class, but the number 1 raised to any power is still one. He’s really dumb for a krelboyne. Category:Episodes Category:Season 3 Category:Episodes focusing on Francis Category:Episodes focusing on Malcolm